Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Due
to multiple upgrades applied to Banner over the weekend, Staff Time
Reporting & Staff Time Approval in 1600grand are unavailable. In
order to fix the problem, Banner will be unavailable today from 8:00 to
9:00 PM.

Services affected: Staff Time Reporting & Staff Time Approval located in 1600grand and Banner.

Services NOT affected: everything else.

What’s happening: ITS staff will reboot Banner to restore Staff Time Reporting & Staff Time Approval in 1600grand.

When is this happening: Banner is scheduled to be unavailable December 27, 2017 from 8:00 to 9:00 PM Central time.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

ITS staff will conduct a scheduled system maintenance period on Saturday January 6 from 6:00 AM until 12:00 noon. We will perform upgrades, test connections, apply patches and do other tasks to keep our critical campus information systems running efficiently.

Services affected: We will be maintaining and upgrading nearly every networked system. Please assume that the service you want will be intermittently unavailable during the maintenance period.

Services NOT affected: Email and Internet access should not be affected during this maintenance period.

What is being done: We are making routine repairs, upgrades and patches to many networked services.

When is this taking place: Saturday January 6, during Winter Break, between 6:00 AM and 12:00 noon.

What you need to do: If you must access networked services during the maintenance, expect to lose connectivity, perhaps more than once.

Further communications: There will be 2 reminders in the Mac Daily. No further communications are planned.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Ramón Rentas at 651-696-6633 or rentas@macalester.edu.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Apple has released a security update to fix a flaw that allows full admin access without a password. Anyone who has a Macintosh computer running macOS High Sierra should apply this security update. ITS has taken the necessary steps to secure College-owned Apple computers, but even so, you should run the latest security update. Personally-owned Macs need to run the security update as well.

How to find the macOS version number on your Mac

Go to the Apple menu located on the top left corner of your screen.

Choose About This Mac.

Go to the Overview tab.

Beneath macOS or OS X, the version of your Mac’s operating system appears.

If macOS High Sierra appears, you need install Security Updates to take care of this vulnerability.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

A fresh look and new features are coming to Google Calendar on the web. Users of the mobile app will find the new look familiar, including the modern color palette and sleek design, and a responsive layout that auto-adjusts to your screen size.

New Google Calendar Timeline

November 28, 2017: Use new Calendar opt-in feature will start to appear for Macalester Calendar users. It may take several days for this new feature to gradually roll out to all users.

January 15, 2018: Google begins auto-upgrading Macalester accounts to the new Calendar. In this phase, you have the option to opt out of the new Calendar.

February 28, 2018: Any users who are still accessing the classic Calendar interface will be transitioned to the new Calendar with no ability to opt out.

New & Classic Calendar: Opt in, Opt out

For a limited time you’ll be able to opt in to use new Calendar--and back to Classic--before it becomes our standard view on February 28, 2018.

Try the new Calendar

On a computer, open Google Calendar.

On the top right of your screen click Use new Calendar.

To go back to the old Calendar at any time, click Settings menu (cog icon on the top right) and then Back to classic Calendar.

Note: If you cannot see "Use new Calendar", the new Calendar isn’t available for your account yet.

In the new Calendar for web, you can:

Add rich formatting and hyperlinks to Calendar invites.

Manage multiple calendars side by side in Day view.

Day, Week, and Month views are now more accessible, featuring better compatibility with screen readers.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

A new Google-integrated voicemail system replaced the CallPilot voicemail system on Thursday, November 16 2017. You may access your old voicemail account to retrieve any messages left for you prior to the new system going live.

How to access your voice mailbox from the old system

From your own campus phone, dial 6008.

Enter your mailbox number, followed by number sign (#)

Enter your password, followed by number sign (#).

New messages will play automatically.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Kelly Borke at 651-696-6566 or telecom@macalester.edu.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

ITS has received a few messages that Argos reports are not appearing to load. We find that the majority of these issues are caused by the Web browsers' pop-up blocker. If you find that your Argos reports files are not loading, follow the instructions below for your specific browser to allow pop-ups forargos.macalester.edu.

Monday, November 6, 2017

The new Google-integrated voicemail system was launched on Thursday, November 16 2017!

A new Google-integrated voicemail system replaced the CallPilot system on Thursday, November 16 2017. Voicemail messages will be accessible to you on your phone and in your email inbox. When you delete a voice message from your phone, it will delete the email from your inbox. When you delete, archive, or move the email message out of your Inbox, the voice message is deleted from your phone's voice mail, and the message light on your phone turns off.

Here’s how to access your voice mailbox and set a password before the new system goes live

From your own campus phone, press Message or dial 6666.

Enter the temporary password, 13579.

Follow the prompts to reset and confirm your password. Passwords must be 4 to 15 numbers.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

ITS staff will be conducting maintenance and patching on 1600grand tonight, November 1, from 10:00 to 11:00 PM. During this period 1600grand will not be accessible. All other IT services, such as Internet access, email, Moodle and the Web will remain in service and should not be affected.

Services affected: 1600grand.

Services NOT affected: All other IT services.

What is being done: Maintenance and patching to 1600grand.

When is this taking place: Wednesday November 1 2017, 10:00 to 11:00 PM.

What you need to do: Don’t try to access 1600grand during the maintenance period.

Further communications: No further communications are planned.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 651-696-6525 or helpdesk@macalester.edu.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

On Monday October 16, 2017 news broke of a significant security flaw in WPA2, the security standard used by all modern Wi-Fi networks. This flaw allows attackers to access data flowing between your devices including, computers, tablets, phones, etc., and the Wi-Fi network to which they are connected. Possible risks include theft of data—including passwords—and injection of malware, viruses and spyware.

Services not affected: Wired Ethernet, devices that are not networked.

What you need to do: Macalester ITS is actively monitoring and patching systems as updates become available. Unfortunately, it may take several months for all vendors to release updates, and older devices may never be updated. Here’s what you can do to protect your—and Macalester’s—devices and data:

Check for and install updates frequently on all your devices to ensure that they receive patches for this and other vulnerabilities as they are released.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

ITS staff will conduct a scheduled system maintenance period on Saturday October 28 from 6:00 AM until 12:00 noon. We will perform upgrades, test connections, apply patches and do other tasks to keep our critical campus information systems running efficiently.

Services affected: Internet access will be intermittent. For this reason, all services accessed across the Internet may be inaccessible at times. If you get into a service, you may lose access during one of the outage periods.

Services NOT affected: Any software installed directly on your computer should not be affected by the intermittent Internet outages.

What is being done: The routers for our campus Internet connection are being replaced. Many other systems are being patched and upgraded.

When is this taking place: Saturday October 28, during Fall Break, between 6:00 AM and 12:00 noon.

What you need to do: If you must access Internet-enabled services during the maintenance, expect to lose connectivity, perhaps more than once.

Further communications: No further communications are planned.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Ramón Rentas at 651-696-6633 or rentas@macalester.edu.

Monday, October 9, 2017

ITS has been testing macOS High Sierra since its release on September 25, 2017. We recommend that you only upgrade if your computer has at least 35GB of available storage space and a minimum of 8GB RAM. Before upgrading, make sure you have a backup plan and set aside plenty of time for the installation to complete.

If your Mac is currently running macOS Sierra, it most likely meets all of these requirements.

✓ Have a back up

Backing up your data is strongly recommended. Once the update is complete, there's no going back. Back up your data to your H Drive, Time Machine, or CrashPlan.

✓ Delete any previously downloaded High Sierra installers

During our testing phase, ITS blocked the installation of macOS High Sierra. If you attempted to install the software before Friday, October 6, you will need to delete and redownload the installer. Failure to do so may leave your computer vulnerable to a serious security flaw. Click Finder, choose Applications, drag Install macOS High Sierra to the Trash.

✓ Check software compatibility.

What are the most important software programs you use every day? Many programs such as Microsoft Office and Google File Stream (formerly Google Drive) are known to work great with macOS High Sierra, but some specialized software may need patches or paid upgrades before they work. If you aren’t sure, contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@macalester.edu. Faculty members may contact their Academic Information Associate. RoaringApps compatibility checker may have more information.

The following applications have been tested and launch successfully. ITS cannot test every function in these programs: ATLAS.ti, Citrix, Google Backup and Sync, Mathematica, MATLAB, ChemDraw, TeX, CrashPlan, Banner INB, VPN.

✓ Make sure I have enough storage space.

You need 35GB of available storage capacity. To find the available storage go to the Apple menu and choose About This Mac then Storage.

✓ Make sure I have enough memory (RAM).

ITS recommends at least 8GB of RAM, otherwise your computer may run very slowly. To find the memory (RAM) go to the Apple menu and choose About This Mac then Overview, look for Memory.

✓ Make sure my hardware is compatible if I want to use High Sierra’s new features.

We only recommend the update for the following computer models. To find your model, go to the Apple menu and choose About This Mac.

Mac Pro (late 2012 or newer)

iMac (late 2012 or newer)

Mac mini (late 2012 or newer)

MacBook Pro (mid-2012 or newer)

MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)

MacBook Air (mid-2012 or newer)

✓ Make sure my operating system (OS) is compatible.

Your Mac must be running OS X 10.8 or later to receive the update. To find the version of OS X, go to the Apple menu and choose About This Mac, look for Version.